Reviews with content warning for Grief - Descendant of the Crane

This book took me too long to get fully invested because I'm not (usually) a fan of slow burn royal court drama however this book has incredible features that won me over in the end. I was really engrossed by the mystical and enriched world building, the murder mystery (and the plot twist regarding it that honest to god made my mouth drop bc I didn't see it!), the magic of sooths and I'm a huge wuxia movies stan so this book gave me all those feels. Also while I was reading Hesina and Akira's first encounter I couldn't help but feel so many The Mummy (1999) feels too lol and I loved that bc it's one of my favorite movies. I enjoyed reading this a lot for giving me another favorite character to add to my collection (Sanjing baby I'll protect you!) though it's also hard to drudge through at points bc Hesina is a difficult character to follow along bc she's exasperating when she can't see beyond her nostrils holy shit! And most characters suffer from “stock one dimensionalism” the worst of them being Lilian who's just the sassy no life other than being the MC's bestie sacrificeable character. Also, I feel the epilogue was a letdown and the reveal weakened the ending bc it's very bullshitty to me. But overall this book is an alluring read except when it isn't (like the beginning and when it gets kinda confusing) but if you have enough patience and time then it is a treat.

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luuxx's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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sporemiette's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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typedtruths's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

DNF 95 pages.

Despite borrowing both the ebook and physical copy from the library, I didn't manage to finish it before its due date. I'm focusing on reading my own tbr this year so it wasn't a priority. I was definitely enjoying it enough to pick it back up again, sometime in the future.

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lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

To be honest, I only purchased this book because of the beautiful cover. I didn't even read the whole synopsis (because I never do), so I didn't expect much. All I knew was that it's Chinese inspired fantasy. I didn't even know it was young adult. When was the last time I read YA fantasy?!
Anyway, I really really really enjoyed it.
The world building was super interesting, the plot was SO much fun. Because there is also a murder mystery and a court trial and sooo many secrets and twists. It's full of things I like. And although it is fantasy, it clearly dealt with important current topics like racism, prejudices and fear of the unknown. (There is a scene where the protagonist recognises her own priviliges and it's just SO good.)

You follow Hesina, the crown princess of Yan. At the beginning of the book her father, the king, is poisened and so she has to start her rule way too early. And not only does she have to deal with some political issues (foreign and domestic) right away, but she also wants to resolve her fathers death and find his murderer.

I really liked the setting of this, the beautiful palaces and gardens with secret passage ways. Loved how complex the politics actually were and the way Hesina handled the situation. Usually in this kind of YA story, where the protagonists have to take over responsibility earlier than expected, they tend to be really bad at it and have to learn the basics first (so annoying). But here, Hesina immediately knows what to do. You realise that she has been preparing for this moment her whole life and she knows her duties and the rules of the court very well. Of course, she makes mistakes, but as a reader you never get the impression these were some stupid (newbie) mistakes. You always understand why she acts the way she does and it makes sense. You get the pros and cons, you see the problems every decision might cause, because there is no clear right or wrong, no clear black or white. And all actions have consequences, and unexpected things might happen, so you never knew what will happen next. Even if you think you do, you really don't.

Absolutely loved the mystery and the way it was uncovered step by step. I mean, some of it was pretty obvious but I was still surprised a few times. And the way Hesina made some of the discoveries was just SO cool.

Although I really liked the characters and their relationships and interactions (the family and friends dynamics are amazing), they still felt like plot devices somethimes. The mysteries around them felt a little too forced sometimes. But I wouldn't have minded, if they werent revealed the way they were. Which is also connected to the ending of the book. The last 40 pages were a wild ride, I tell you, and then the ending was basically a slap in the face.

You know how sometimes when you read a book and think it's the perfect standalone but then the author decides to stretch the plot really thin at the end just to make it a trilogy? This felt like the opposite, like me finishing an essay in university. "Oh, I reached the minimum page count for the assignment? Okay, let's wrap this up really quickly. Ah, I haven't explained the backstory of this character. Let's just write it down on half a page to get it over with."

So yeah, the ending felt really sudden and rushed. But it was also kind of cool the way it was handled? I'm conflicted. But I love the questions that arise at the end so much. What is actually good and what is bad? What makes a hero and what makes a villain? Is it better to stick to your ideals or do ends justify the means? I like that it's up to the reader to decide at the end.

I did some research after finishing the book btw. And I found some confusing information. There are people that say, this is a standalone. Then there are some who claim this is a standalone but there are options for companion novels. But then I also found an article that mentions a planned sequel? I mean, there are still some unanswered questions, some open mysteries. And the characters and the world are way too good to give them up completely. So if there is a sequel or a companion, I will definitely read it. I just hope these don't ruin the impact this book made had on me.

Content Warnings

caidyn's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I finally revisited this and found it very good. Really, the political intrigue was well done and I had to remind myself this was YA a few times. I'm glad I decided to give this another try because I remember wanting to enjoy it so much. Just seems like the wrong time for the book.

Original review

I received this ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 37%

Let me just get this off my chest first:

I WANTED TO LOVE THIS!!!

It sounded so amazing, like it’d be a YA version of The Poppy War. Like, it sounded like it was going to be fucking epic and that I’d love it and immediately have an author that I would follow for the rest of my life.

But, that was what it could have been. That’s not the reality.

Immediately, I stepped into this world and knew one thing: Hesina, our MC, is the new queen after her father’s death. And she believes that he was murdered.

That’s it. That’s all I knew.

From there, it goes into her wanting to discover who did it. But, that’s not all that’s going on with the book. There’s very little characterization that I caught. No character jumped off the page for me, not even Hesina. It was all very bland, despite the intrigue going on. I could barely differentiate characters, which became a huge problem since there were a lot of characters being thrown my way.

Also, there’s more given in the description about the world than on the page. Such as, these things, sooths, were suddenly in the story. And my reaction was “who the hell are these things??” I thought they were legit creatures or something out of Game of Thrones. But, no. They’re people with magic. I didn’t find that out from reading 37% of the book. I found that out by reading the description while writing this review.

In the end, I was getting frustrated because I had no idea what was going on, who any of the characters were, and why things were important. So, I had to stop reading it. One day, once it’s published, I might come back and try it again. I’m very excited to see these ownvoices fantasies coming out. I’m all for it and I definitely will read more of the Asian books that are coming out this year.

But, I couldn’t do this one.

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